The plan is as follows: on the 1st February, at 18, we will meet the laureates of the Andrzej Munk Awards. We will also hear Soniamiki perform. In the final - we will watch the films of the winners.

All the screenings, discussions and reviews are behind us. It’s time to hand out the awards on the 1st February at 18:00 at the Film School’s Television Studio. The awards ceremony will also play host to a unique event: ‘Soniamiki will play Munk’. Once we’ve found out who’s won – everyone is invited to a screening of the laureates’ films. The evening’s host will be Jędrzej Michalak, a student from our Directing department. The competition’s jury consists of: Xawery Żuławski, Radosław Ładczuk, Sebastian Buttny, Michał Sobociński, Kalina Alabrudzińska and Michał Dymek.

The competition was first held in 1965 with Jerzy Skolimowksi winning the award (for the film "Walkover"). The competition, organized by the Film School in Lodz, is aimed at directors and cinematographers making their feature length debuts. The Andrzej Munk Award is a good indicator of which film careers to keep an eye on. It’s not only a prestigious award, but one which opens the doors for many debuting projects to receive promotional support. During its 50-year history, the award has been won by individuals such as: Krzysztof Kieślowski for ‘Personnel’ (1975), Andrzej Żuławski for "The Third Part of the Night" (1971), Mariusz Grzegorzek for "Conversation with a Cupboard Man" (1993) and Łukasz Barczyk for "I’m Looking at You, Mary" (1999).

This year, from a pool of eighteen films entered into the competition, various directors and cinematographers were nominated for the award. Amongst the selected films are titles such as: "The Lure" by Agnieszka Smoczyńska, "Camper" by Łukasz Grzegorzek, "Panamerican Machinery" by Joaquin del Paso, "The Here After" by Magnus von Horn,"Playground" by Bartosz M. Kowalski and "Zud" by Marta Minorowicz (full list of films and nominees at www.konkursmunka.pl).

Andrzej Munk studied Cinematography and Directing at the Film School in Lodz. From 1957 up until his death, he was a lecturer at the Film School. He directed the pseudo-documentary "Men of the Blue Cross" (1955) and numerous feature films such as: "Man on the Tracks" (1956), "Eroica" (1957), "Bad Luck" (1960) and "Passenger" (1963). Andrzej Munk won the "Most Promising New Director" award at the Venice Film Festival for "Men of the Blue Cross", and he was also nominated for the "Crystal Globe" at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival for his film "Man on the Tracks". He tragically passed away in 1961 at the age of just 40, leaving his film ‘Passengers’ unfinished. Witold Lesiewicz completed the film which went on to win awards at Cannes and the Venice Film Festival.

Although Andrzej Munk’s filmography is quite short, it’s also very expressive. He devised films and protagonists that were rebellious, brave, almost bodacious. Throughout his films, Munk scrutinized national stereotypes and tropes embedded in the social consciousness. He created characters entangled within the cogs of history and politics. He tactfully balanced solemn reflection with humor and juxtaposed a documentary style with his own fantastical, grotesque perspective. It’s exactly these types of films – brave, expressive, ones which negate trends – that the Jury of the Andrzej Munk Competition is searching for.